12 Best Guns ‘N’ Roses Songs of All Time

After more than four decades, it's fair to say Guns N' Roses are still one of the world's biggest rock outfits.

Sure, their most recent work doesn't hold a candle to anything they released during their early years, and frontman Axl Rose might not have the voice he once did, but when you go on a four-album run as good as Appetite for Destruction (1987), G N' R Lies (1988), Use Your Illusion I (1991) and Use Your Illusion II (1991), you're allowed a little leeway.

Now elder statesmen of the rock and roll fraternity, the Gunners are gearing up for a run of Australian shows this November and December, kicking things off in Adelaide as part of the bp Adelaide Grand Final entertainment.

Ahead of Guns N’ Roses’ upcoming tour, we thought we'd handpick the best Gunners songs we hope to hear when they touch down this November.

‘Welcome to the Jungle’ (1987)

The opening track to the band's debut album, Appetite for Destruction, smacks you for six and leaves you wanting more.

Believed to have been written in just three hours, 'Welcome to the Jungle' is the one Guns N' Roses song that best sums up everything the band are about.

Slash's monster guitar riffs lay the foundation for Duff McKagan's slick basslines and Steven Adler's groovy percussion, with Axl Rose's iconic raspy vocals the cherry on top of this rock 'n' roll cake.

The inspiration for the track reportedly came after Axl was approached by a homeless man in New York who said to him, "You know where you are? You in the jungle, baby! You gonna die!"

'Don't Cry' (1991)

This belter finds Guns N' Roses embracing their rock roots – a soaring, five-minute power ballad even Journey would be proud of.

Often attributed as the first song the band wrote, this tale of heartbreak appears on both Use Your Illusion I and II, with both versions musically similar but featuring different lyrics.

'Don't Cry' also features Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, who harmonises with Axl throughout the song.

Like many of their music videos from this time, 'Don't Cry' was inspired by Axl's relationship with ex Erin Everly and features footage of the Gunners performing live on top of a skyscraper.

'You Could Be Mine' (1991)

If you're too young to realise just how big Guns N' Roses were in the early '90s, look no further than 'You Could Be Mine'.

Not only was this track a highlight from the band's Use Your Illusion II record, but the track was also featured in Terminator 2: Judgment Day – one of the biggest movies of 1991.

It's another hard-hitting rock song with an aggressive guitar solo that's the perfect backdrop for Axl's whiny delivery.

The music video is also a lost classic featuring scenes of the band intercut with clips from T2. There's also a subplot involving an Arnie T-800 lookout being sent back in time to murder the band, but deciding to let them live when he scans Axl and discovers it would be a "waste of bullets".

‘November Rain’ (1991)

The Gunners' own 'Stairway to Heaven' – this nine-minute epic was at the core of the band's 1991 album Use Your Illusion I.

A grandiose piano ballad everyone besides Axl was keen on recording, 'November Rain' quickly raced up the charts when released as a single in 1992, helped by the iconic Andy Morahan-directed music video depicting Axl dealing with the death of his partner after she took her own life due to his constant infidelity.

The music video was a staple on MTV and features model, actress and Axl's real-life girlfriend at the time, Stephanie Seymour, as his jilted lover.

Slash's solo in the desert, cigarette hanging from his mouth, black leather jacket open to reveal his bare chest as the wind blows his hair, is an image that's hard to forget.

This is Guns N' Roses at their excessive best.

'Civil War' (1990)

Most fans remember 'Civil War' from Guns N' Roses' 1991 album Use Your Illusion II, but it was actually released a year earlier on Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal, a charity album compiled by George Harrison.

The anti-war song finds Axl singing, "Look at your women crying / Look at your young men dying", with Slash in fine form on the guitar and Dizzy Reed's dazzling piano playing filling in the spaces.

‘Paradise City’ (1987)

Writing in his 2007 autobiography, Slash explained how this song came about while the band were driving back from a gig in San Francisco.

"We were drinking and playing acoustic guitars," Slash wrote in his book. "I came up with the jangly intro to what became 'Paradise City'. Duff and Izzy picked it up and started playing it while I came up with the chord changes. I started humming a melody and played it over and over. Then Axl chimed in: 'Take me down to the Paradise City.'"

'Paradise City' was the only song on Appetite for Destruction to feature synth and has been the band's set closer since the '80s.

'Mr Brownstone' (1987)

As the title implies, this song references guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin's growing heroin addiction.

A slang term for heroin, the lyrics for 'Mr Brownstone' were said to have been written on a grocery bag and explore how Slash and Stradlin's tolerance for the drug caused them to start using more to get high.

"I used to do a little, but a little wouldn't do / So the little got more and more", Axl shrieks over Steven Adler's magical drumming.

'Nightrain' (1987)

When researching Guns N' Roses songs, it quickly becomes clear the group didn't spend a lot of time hashing out ideas. 'Nightrain' is another track that came about while Slash and Izzy were messing about in the studio.

Quickly coming up with the electrifying riff, the song lacked lyrics. Rumour has it the group were walking down Palm Avenue in West Hollywood one night, sharing a bottle of Night Train, a cheap brand of wine the Gunners were fond of back in the day, when a passerby yelled out, "I'm on the night train!", in reference to the drink, inspiring Axel's lyrics.

Released as the fifth and final single from their debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction, 'Nightrain' didn't chart all that well (climbing as high as #93 on the US Billboard Hot 100), but has become a fan favourite that often makes up their setlist.

'Sweet Child O' Mine' (1988)

As soon as the opening guitar riff reverberates through the speakers, it's hard not to get caught up in the magic that is 'Sweet Child O' Mine'.

Beginning life as a melody Slash was playing around with, drummer Steven Adler turned the riff into one of the band's most well-known tracks, with Axel writing lyrics inspired by his then-girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers.

'Sweet Child O' Mine' is also one of the band's most covered songs, with everyone from Carrie Underwood to the Black Eyed Peas taking a stab at recreating the track, with the most notable being Shania Twain.

The country singer's version was widely panned by critics but ended up winning her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

'Patience' (1989)

The Gunners show their softer side on this acoustic ballad from their sophomore album, G N' R Lies.

Produced by Mike Clink during a single session, the track features Axel accompanied by three guitars and no percussion.

Released as a single, fans were surprised the Gunners had this kind of depth, with 'Patience' peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' (1990)

Another song released for a soundtrack (this time Tom Cruise's NASCAR drama Days of Thunder), 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' is a cover of the Bob Dylan classic. While it's debatable whether it belongs on this list, seeing as the Gunners didn't write it, it's still arguably one of the band's most beloved songs.

Guns N' Roses' take on the haunting original retains the emotion supplied by Dylan via Axl's familiar whine alongside Slash's epic guitar playing.

If you didn't know better, you could easily mistake this for a Guns N' Roses track with how easily it slips into their catalogue.

'Estranged' (1991)

This Use Your Illusion II cut finds Axl wallowing in his own self-pity across nine and a half minutes of wonderful guitar work from Slash.

Written while Axl's marriage to Erin Everly was being annulled, 'Estranged' is a little all over the place structurally, with no chorus and multiple verses, reflecting Axl's state of mind during that period.

The bandana-wearing frontman is all in his feels, crooning about lost love as Slash goes wild with some incredible solos across this nearly 10-minute epic.

The music video is the third in a trilogy (following 'Don't Cry' and 'November Rain') and follows Axl being arrested and taken to a mental health facility where he eventually gets better and ends the film clip swimming in the ocean with dolphins. It's got something to do with finding inner peace, but it's best just to sit back and enjoy this one.